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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22925863">Guardians of Fire and Nature</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSaphiraReads/pseuds/DragonSaphiraReads'>DragonSaphiraReads</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fluffuary 2020 [28]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>royal twins au, slight violence mention</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:28:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,892</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22925863</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSaphiraReads/pseuds/DragonSaphiraReads</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite warnings, Prince Remus sneaks down into the kitchen late one night for a little snack. Unfortunately, he meets the wrong people and ends up far away from the safety of his bodyguards, who didn’t even know he was gone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders/Deceit Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fluffuary 2020 [28]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619986</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Guardians of Fire and Nature</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Like listening to podfics? You can listen to this oneshot on my YT channel here https://youtu.be/JmBD5NkxSro</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a little after midnight when Prince Remus snuck down to the kitchen, his personal guards fast asleep in the cots they had rolled into his room. Ever since his brother had been kidnapped for unknown reasons, the entire castle had been on red alert. There was even talk of a spy in their ranks, someone working in the castle that was on the bandits’ side. </p><p>	Remus thought it was ridiculous, personally. It was obvious that Roman had just been kidnapped by chance, that the bandits had heard him coming and decided to take advantage of his helpful nature to trap him. It wasn’t a big conspiracy, like his mother seemed to think. She had ordered his guards to be at his side 24/7, even sleeping in his room. </p><p>	The prince loved his guards, just as much as Roman loved his, but he needed his space. That was why he snuck out, down to the kitchens to pinch a snack for himself without Logan or Ernest breathing down his neck. </p><p>	He heard someone shuffling around in the kitchen as he approached, and then hushed voices. Remus peeked around the door to see a serving girl darting around, seemingly talking to herself. Remus smiled to himself. She always gave him the best snacks.</p><p>	“Annie!” He greeted, startling the girl who gasped loudly, her voice cracking. </p><p>	“Prince Remus! W-What are you doing here?” She stammered as the prince flounced into the kitchen. </p><p>	“I just wanted to grab a lil’ somethin’, and get away from my guards for a bit! They’re so ridiculous, they haven’t let me out of their sight since Roman’s whole fiasco! Not even to shit!”</p><p>	Annie winced at his statement, wiping her hands on her apron. “I see. That must be difficult, not having any privacy.” </p><p>	“It sucks! And it’s all ‘cause Roman got tricked by a little girl on the side of the road!”</p><p>	She pursed her lips, gently bumping a cabinet door closed with her foot as she moved to the pantry door. “I’m sure it was a little more complicated than that... Prince Roman seemed so frightened when he arrived back at the castle.”</p><p>	Remus rolled his eyes, following her slowly to take a peek at what they had in stock. “He’s such a baby though! If it were me, I would have told them to shove off, not bawl my eyes out!”</p><p>	Annie chewed on her thumb nail, leaning against the pantry door. “Really? I think I would be so terrified, I would do anything they say! After all, they could hurt me really badly if I didn’t!”</p><p>	“Nah, they wouldn’t dare!”</p><p>	Remus tried to move forward, to not-so-subtly get Annie to move out of the way so he could get his snack in peace. But instead, he stopped as he noticed that her face had changed. Her hair was hanging in front of her eyes, and the energy surrounding her was different... darker, somehow. </p><p>	“Do you want to bet on that?”</p><p>	“H-Huh?”</p><p>	Annie raised her head, staring at him with a smug smile and danger flickering in her eyes. “I said, do you want to bet on that? Do you really think you could be in that situation and keep up that smug attitude?”</p><p>	“Annie, what are you talking about?”</p><p>	Instead of answering, she reached behind her and turned the handle, opening the pantry door and revealing a hulking figure masked by the darkness of the closet. Remus stepped back in fear, and instead felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck before his world suddenly turned to black. </p><p>	Before he passed out, he heard Annie’s voice above him, sneering with obvious disdain. “Let’s test your resolve, little prince. See how tough you really are.”</p><p>~</p><p>	Remus shot awake, surrounded by darkness and lying on cold dirt. He wiggled and realized his limbs were numb and also tied behind his back, and there was a blindfold tied tightly over his eyes. </p><p>	Wherever he was, he was alone, or at least he thought so. He tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but he wasn’t strong enough to do much other than lift his head a few inches off the ground. </p><p>	There were footsteps, and then the sound of a door opening as a slight amount of light penetrated the thick fabric over his eyes. Immediately he tries to relax his muscles and pretend he was still asleep, to hopefully delay whatever they were going to do and buy some time. </p><p>	A lighter pair of footsteps walked right up to him, and there was a gentle hand on his shoulder. Then that warmth left, and a voice spoke. </p><p>	“Drop the act, little prince, I know you’re awake.”</p><p>	That was Annie... so it hadn’t been a dream. He realized that his mother had been right - there had been a spy in the castle. And he had fallen for it. </p><p>	“What do you want?” Remus asked in a hoarse voice, his throat dry from breathing in the dust of his new surroundings. He heard someone else in the room laugh as Annie shifted. </p><p>	“It’s nothing personal, I promise. Your mother’s done some things that we don’t approve of, and so we’re going to hold one of her precious little boys until she fixes what she’s done.”</p><p>	The other person in the room laughed again - a gruff, cruel sound. “But don’t get the wrong idea - we don’t need you in pristine condition to get what we want.”</p><p>	Annie hummed. “True. We only need you alive, and just barely. So if you do something that we don’t like, we won’t hesitate to cause a few bruises. Or worse.”</p><p>	“Bring it! You don’t scare me!”</p><p>	Annie laughed, and there was more movement before suddenly pain bloomed in his chest, and he sucked in a breath. Someone had kicked him in the ribs, and <i>hard</i>. </p><p>	“You can act tough as much as you want. It’ll just make it worse for you~”</p><p>	“So what, you failed at getting Roman and you decided to take the other twin instead? Talk about lowering your standards!”</p><p>	He was kicked again, in the same spot. Remus tried to hide how painful it was to breathe. </p><p>This continued for a while, although Remus had no way of knowing how much time had passed. Every snarky remark was met with pain, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop - they would take that as a sign of victory, and he refused to let them win. </p><p>“You... really should have just taken Roman again... He would have been...the perfect prisoner... but you stuck yourself with me!”</p><p>Annie spoke up from where she was sitting in the corner, watching the entire scene. “Your brother is too much work, mostly because of those lovely little guards he has. They arrived within an hour of my people grabbing him. But it’s nearly morning, my little prince, and your guards are nowhere to be seen. Could it be they find you just as annoying as I do?”</p><p>Remus grinned, spitting out a mouthful of iron-tasting saliva. “No, they’ll come. Even if they didn’t want to, they have to.”</p><p>“You don’t sound very confident. Do you even realize how much the palace staff talks about you behind your back? You’re the most obnoxious little brat I’ve had the displeasure of meeting.”</p><p>“Why, thank you!” Remus smiled widely. “And trust me, I know. Everyone loves my brother, and I’m just the annoying sidekick. He’s the perfect prince, right down to his guards.”</p><p>Then the captive smirked. “Me, on the other hand? I attract people who aren’t bound by the same moral code as they are.”</p><p>Annie narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you blathering about?”</p><p>“All I’m saying, is that if Virgil and Patton were coming to get me? You’d have a much higher chance of making it out of here alive.”</p><p>	Annie laughed harshly, and he heard her footsteps approach him, and braced himself for another burst of pain. </p><p>	But it never came, and instead he felt the air shift and a voice spoke from in front of him, masking Annie’s startled gasp. </p><p>	“Sorry to crash this little party, but you’re not going to lay another finger on my prince.” Ernest said, a satisfied smirk on his lips.</p><p>	“What are you--! Where did you come from!?”</p><p>	Remus could hear distant cries of pain coming from outside the door. Later, Ernest would tell him exactly how his captors both panicked and ran for the door, and how the man screamed when he burned his hands on the metal doorknob. He would learn about how he met his end at Logan’s hands, as the fire magic user burned his way through the entire compound, flames licking at his clothes. Ernest would tell him how Logan raised his hand against Annie, ready to kill her as well before Ernest broke him out of his trance. </p><p>	“Logan, we need her alive.”</p><p>	“She kidnapped our prince.”</p><p>	“And we need to make sure that there won’t be another attempt. Let me handle her, take care of his highness.”</p><p>	Remus barely had the energy to raise his head to allow Logan’s warm hands to untie the blindfold from his eyes. A strategic spark burned through the ropes around his wrists and ankles and then Remus was free. He sat up with Logan’s assistance, trying to shake feeling back into his limbs. </p><p>	“Are you alright, your highness?” Logan asked, his face an emotionless mask. Remus silently nodded, smiling a wavering smile as Ernest lead Annie out of the room. </p><p>	“I... I’m ok... it hurts... but I...”</p><p>	He couldn’t get a sentence out before tears were building in his eyes, and his heart jumped into his throat. He started hyperventilating, digesting what he had just gone through. </p><p>	“I was... so scared! I thought you wouldn’t come, because I snuck out and left you guys behind! I-I’m sorry! I promise I’ll never sneak out again!”</p><p>Logan blinked, life returning to his eyes as he realized that Remus was crying. “Oh, please don’t blame yourself. We failed to protect you, and that’s on us.”</p><p>Remus sniffed, whimpering. “I love you two so much... and I... I...”</p><p>Logan pulled him into a hug, mindful of the pain his prince was in. “We care for you as well. And we will be here for you, whenever you need us.”</p><p>They sat for a while, Remus laying his head on Logan’s steady shoulder until Ernest came back in. He picked the prince up in a bridal carry, instantly seeing how Remus winced. </p><p>“Are you alright, your highness? Would you rather walk--”</p><p>“NO!” Remus shouted, wrapping his arms tightly around Ernest’s neck. “No, please... I just need... you two here...”</p><p>His guards understood, and Ernest shifted his arms to carry the prince in as little pain as possible. They walked over to one of the wagons drawn by two horses, and he sat down with Remus in his lap and Logan to his left. </p><p>The prince was exhausted, and he quickly started to drift off. The last thing Remus felt before falling asleep were soft kisses in his hair from his bodyguards, and he sighed contently. </p><p>	He didn’t care what Annie said. He knew that they cared about him out of more than just duty. Even if they couldn’t say it, he knew they loved him.</p>
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